1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to informational documents, whether hard copy or computerized, and more specifically to a system of cross referencing information contained in such a document for ease of reference. The present invention provides a self-referential reference system which can work forward and backward through the material, and that is adaptable for use in virtually any type of informational document. The present system is particularly valuable in instructional manuals for teaching the use of various types of computer programs, such as word processing programs, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of learning a new skill, the use of a new article of equipment, computer program, etc., can be one of the more difficult tasks faced by a person in everyday life. Fortunately, there are generally a number of instructional materials available for learning most new skills and for dealing with most forms of equipment, computer programs, etc. However, such instructional materials are often difficult to use and difficult to access specific information from, in their own right.
One of the primary reasons such manuals can be difficult to use is the fact that in most cases where instruction in a new skill is involved, a relatively large number of steps is required to accomplish some given task. Many times these steps must be accomplished in close succession, or perhaps even simultaneously for a few of the steps. Also, in many cases the procedure for accomplishing different tasks requires many of the same steps, and/or same order, as that required for accomplishing other related tasks, with the differences amounting to relatively small variations in a few of the steps, and/or their order of accomplishment.
Typically, most instructional works describe the steps involved in a given process only once, with the student then being required to work back and forth through the instructional work to find those steps required for related processes, even if the student knows the basic process for which each of the steps is described in detail. This results in the person learning the skill, being required to review back and forth in the instructional material in an attempt to find each of the perhaps many steps involved in a given process. It is of course impossible for the new user of the equipment or program to learn all of the steps of a given procedure at one time, and hence it becomes necessary to work back and forth through the instructional work, either turning to the appropriate pages in a hard copy manual or reviewing a number of menus in a computer program, in order to find the single piece of information required for the next step in a procedure.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for an information cross referencing system, which enables a user of the system to quickly and easily find specific sections or instructions in a relatively complex and lengthy reference or instructional work. The present system responds to this need by providing an easily learned system for cross referencing various areas of text, reference figures, shortcut steps, and/or other aspects of a hard copy or computerized reference source or instructional work. The present system is self-referential, in that a work incorporating the present system uses the system in text and other references throughout, to refer to other areas of the work which are related to the specific function cross referenced by the system. Thus, a process involving a step A, but which also involves steps B and C, will refer to steps B and C and their location in the reference work in the discussion of step A, with the discussion of steps B and C likewise referring back to step A and to one another, in order to simplify the search for the required information to carry out the process.
As will be understood from the preceding discussion, the present system also works both forward and backward through the reference work or text, depending upon the relative locations of the various steps involved. The present system is particularly valuable in indicating a specific option in a computer menu, with its generally wide number of options.
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,938 issued on Aug. 29, 1978 to James A. H. Mitchell et al., titled xe2x80x9cSystem For Arranging And Retrieving Information,xe2x80x9d describes a redundant system including text, illustrations, diagrams, and marginal cross referencing notes to refer to different, but related, articles. The Mitchell et al. system is adapted for use in encyclopedia type publications and references, where a series of not necessarily related articles is arranged in alphabetical order. The Mitchell et al. system differs further from the present system in that the text, illustrations, diagrams, etc. are somewhat redundant, with a person seeking information about a given subject being able to review either the primary text, an ancillary text, a primary illustration, all of the illustrations, or some combination thereof, to gain the desired information. In contrast, the present system provides a series of mnemonic alphanumeric reference codes in order to enable a user of the work incorporating the system, to easily refer back and forth to related steps and procedures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,515 issued on Mar. 5, 1985 to Victor Cuan et al., titled xe2x80x9cFootnote Assembly Management,xe2x80x9d describes a computer program for editing and formatting text and associated footnotes. The Cuan et al. system is not self-referential, as it does not refer back and forth throughout the entire document as can the present system. As the Cuan et al. system is directed only to assembly of footnotes in a document, it thus involves only a forwardly directed reference system (from text to following footnote), and does not refer back, as can the present system.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,648,067 and 4,648,071, both issued on Mar. 3, 1987 to James T. Repass et al., respectively titled xe2x80x9cFootnote Management For Display And Printingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cDesignation Of Footnotes And Footnote Reference,xe2x80x9d both describe additional systems for installing footnotes with associated text at the time of document assembly or printing. The Repass et al. footnote assembly systems are more closely related to the system of the Cuan et al. ""515 U.S. Patent, discussed immediately above, than to the present cross referencing system. As footnotes only follow closely adjacent text, there is no disclosure of any form of forward cross referencing or mnemonic code for locating related information in other areas of the work, as is provided by the present system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,491 issued on Sep. 29, 1987 to Barbara J. Stenger, titled xe2x80x9cInformation Reference Book And Indexing System,xe2x80x9d describes a recipe reference book, in which two types of preprinted abstract pages are provided. The user must enter data relating to specific magazine articles, books, page numbers, etc. for any recipes desired. The Stenger system enables the user to quickly look up the specific cookbook, magazine, etc. where a specific recipe may be located. However, the Stenger book essentially serves as an index for other works, rather than serving as an instructional work per se, as it does not contain the actual recipes, but rather serves as a reference guide for locating those recipes in other books and works. Stenger makes no suggestion regarding any forward and backward cross referencing in her book, as there is no motivation for such a system in her book per se.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,374 issued on May 23, 1989 to Kenneth W. Prest Jr., titled xe2x80x9cSystem For Indexing Textual Material,xe2x80x9d describes an indexing system incorporating a series of dividers, each having an outwardly extending tab. The tabs are marked with an alphanumeric indicator to indicate the subject matter (different legal codes or regulations, etc.) following that particular tab and divider. The Prest, Jr. system is thus not a self-referential cross reference system, as is the present system, but rather merely a different means of separating different subject matter in a single work or volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,999 issued on Aug. 21, 1990 to Cui Ke-hui, titled xe2x80x9cBook Indexing System,xe2x80x9d describes an alphabetic system adapted to alphabetically arranged works, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. The Ke-hui system comprises printing a series of alphabetically ordered letters along the exterior edges of the pages of the work, with each letter subtending a width equal to the thickness of the pages having subject matter beginning with that letter. Other smaller letters are used to represent the succeeding letters in words in a given alphabetic section of the work, with color codes also being used. While dictionaries, encyclopedias, and instructional manuals are all reference works, the Ke-Hui system cannot be adapted to the typical instructional manual, as such instructional manuals are arranged in order of procedures, rather than in alphabetical order. Moreover, the Ke-hui system is not a self-referencing cross reference system, as is the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,143 issued on Dec. 18, 1990 to Thomas H. Ericson, titled xe2x80x9cBook Indexing System,xe2x80x9d describes such a system for works in which the various sections are arranged by name, rather than in any particular alphabetic or numerical order, e. g., the Bible. The Ericson system provides a series of numbered tabs which are installed at the beginning of each section (or Biblical book), and an index showing the correspondence of the book or section names with the numbers of the index tabs. The Ericson system is not a self-referential work, in that the book itself does not refer back and forth to other sections or parts thereof, as does a work incorporating the present referencing system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,418 issued on Mar. 17, 1992 to Howard L. Nurse et al., titled xe2x80x9cMethod And Means For Managing Citations In Documents,xe2x80x9d describes another system for formatting and assembling footnotes in a document. The Nurse et al. system cannot provide a self-referential cross referencing system, as does the present invention. The Nurse et al. system is more closely related to the systems discussed further above in the Cuan et al. ""515 and Repass et al. ""067 and ""071 U.S. Patents, than to the present system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,397 issued on May 5, 1992 to David S. Chirokas et al., titled xe2x80x9cManaging Lengthy Footnotes In A Work (sic) Processing Document,xe2x80x9d describes yet another system for formatting and assembling footnotes in a document. The Chirokas et al. system is more closely related to the systems of the Cuan et al. ""515, Repass et al. ""067 and ""071, and Nurse et al. ""418 U.S. Patents, than to the present system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,143 issued on Apr. 27, 1999 to Hassan Baaqeil, titled xe2x80x9cMethod Of Indexing A Book,xe2x80x9d describes an alphabetic system for dictionaries and the like. Baaqeil indexes a series of major pages, and then indexes each page thereunder with headings along the upper margin. Each succeeding page is taller than the one preceding, in order for all indexed upper edges to be seen simultaneously in a given section. The Baaqeil system does nothing to cross reference the internal subject matter, nor does it provide any mnemonic means to assist the user in determining the type of information being referenced, as does the present system.
European Patent Publication No. 94,514 published on Nov. 23, 1983 to International Business Machines, titled xe2x80x9cDesignation Of Footnotes And Footnote References,xe2x80x9d describes a system closely related to that described in the ""071 U.S. Patent to Repass et al., discussed further above. The ""514 European Patent Publication is based upon the same parent application as the ""071 U.S. Patent and was invented by the same inventors, with the assignee in the ""071 U.S. Patent being International Business Machines. The points made in the discussion of the ""071 U.S. Patent are thus felt to apply here as well.
European Patent Publication No. 94,516 published on Apr. 7, 1990 to International Business Machines, titled xe2x80x9cFootnote Formatting,xe2x80x9d describes another system invented by Repass et al. and closely related to the ""067 and ""071 U.S. Patents and ""514 European Patents discussed above. The same points raised in those discussions, are felt to apply here as well.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-188,525 published on Aug. 16, 1991 to Tatsua Morishima describes (according to the English abstract) a computer system in which further operational information, instructions, etc. are called up on the screen by means of a xe2x80x9chelpxe2x80x9d key on the keyboard. The computer selects the appropriate information from information stored therein and according to the specific error or operation being conducted by the computer user. The ""525 Japanese Patent Publication does not appear to disclose any cross referencing of different but related information in a hard copy manual or book, or any corresponding cross referencing system in a computer program or system, as provided by the present system.
Finally, xe2x80x9cThucydides, A Comprehensive Guide To The Peleponnesian War,xe2x80x9d edited by Robert B. Strassler and published by The Free Press of Simon and Schuster (copyright 1996 by Robert B. Strassler), includes a cross referencing system described in a footnote on page ix of the introduction. The introduction includes a plurality of groups of three numbers, with each number in a given group referring to the book, chapter, and section number in the body of the work. However, no mnemonic system is used to refer to illustrations, and the system is not self-referential, in that the body of the work (i. e., the Thucydides translation itself) does not include any references referring to other portions thereof, nor does the body of the work refer back to any points in the introduction. In contrast, the present system is self-referential, with references working both forward and backward in the work.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an information cross referencing system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The present invention is a system for cross referencing informational works, such as hard copy instructional texts and manuals, computer tutorials, etc. The present system provides a means of referencing related matter both forward and backward through the text, manual or other program, by using an easily recognized and understood series of alphanumeric characters to refer to appropriate areas or passages of the work. The system also includes mnemonics, to indicate to the user that areas other than text (e. g., drawing figures or references, shortcut tips, etc.) are referenced.
The present system basically uses a series of two numbers and a letter to cross reference a chapter, section, and specific step in the text, with the mnemonic designation xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d used to refer to a drawing figure. The figure designations are further defined by a chapter number and figure number, with a second number following the figure number to indicate a specific step shown in the figure. Additional mnemonic references beginning with the letter xe2x80x9cS,xe2x80x9d indicate shortcut steps which may be used, with additional codes provided to indicate specific keystrokes to be used in accomplishing certain steps when using a computer program.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an information cross referencing system for use with instructional manuals, textbooks, computer tutorials, and other reference and instructional works.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system which is self-referential and forward and backward referential, for referencing areas and points throughout the body of the work in both preceding and successive areas of the work.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an information cross referencing system incorporating easily used alphanumeric codes indicating chapter, section, and specific step in the text or body of a work, as well as mnemonic codes for indicating illustration figures by chapter, figure, and specific step illustrated within the figure, and shortcut codes or steps.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a system including codes indicating specific keystrokes for accomplishing a given step or procedure in a computer program.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.